Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Trait Shopping Spree
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Chapter 91
91
"It can't be..."
Jeong-hyeon could hardly believe the sight unfolding before his eyes.
Was the world really allowed to be this generous?
All he'd done was hunt like any hunter should.
And lately, he hadn't even come close to death—not once had he truly felt in danger. He'd just been hunting for fun.
The culprit that had completely blown away Jeong-hyeon's mind—always grounded one step in reality—was none other than his trait window.
[Equippable Slots (7/7)
「Decent Combat Sense」(D, Lv.4)
「Extremely Agile Movement」(C, Lv.4)
「Slight Enhancement of Physical Abilities」(D, Lv.3)
「Ripe Throwing Skill」(C, Lv.4)
「Stealth that Fools Goblin Eyes」(E, Lv.2)
「Excellent Movement Speed」(C, Lv.2)
「Useful Mana Sensitivity」(C, Lv.1)
Storage Slots (3/9)
「Decent Combat Sense」(D, Lv.1)
「Slight Enhancement of Physical Abilities」(D, Lv.1)
「Excellent Movement Speed」(C, Lv.1)
Current Active Trait Synergies: 『The Best Defense is Evasion 2』(D), 『Remove the Eyes, and It's Assassination』(E)]
After finishing off the Kraken Boar, he had exactly 56 coins.
His original target was 50, but an unexpected daily quest and extra hunting had netted him a bit more than expected.
Figured this should be enough to pull something good, so he headed home and immediately started refreshing traits.
And the result? A jackpot of jackpots, as one could see.
First off, both his movement and throwing traits had reached C-rank.
It didn't stop there—his combat sense and physical enhancement traits were now just one more away from their next rank-up.
The only regrettable part was movement speed, as usual.
Even after getting thought acceleration from a synergy effect, it kept nagging at Jeong-hyeon's nerves for some reason.
'Forcing three D-ranks to make a C-rank? Who even does that?'
And understandably so. He'd kept buying D-rank movement speeds because they kept showing up, but who could've guessed not a single C-rank would appear, forcing him to rank it up that way?
One C-rank would've cost 4 coins, but three D-ranks had burned through a whopping 9. Utterly infuriating.
But at least this time, he couldn't complain about the trait shop, no matter what.
[Jeong-hyeon's Coins: 11]
Even after buying all those traits, he still had 11 coins left.
Suspiciously good results despite not spending everything, he checked his trait window again—and yeah, it was dazzling.
"Money's best saved up and spent all at once."
Jeong-hyeon confirmed the truth of that wisdom yet again and returned to the shop window.
Things had gone this far, so blowing the remaining 11 coins on refreshes was fine.
[Shop List (Refresh Cost: 2 Coins)
「Pitiful Healing」(F, Lv.1), 1C
「One-Ri Eye」(F, Lv.1), 1C
「Somewhat Decent Toughness」(F, Lv.1), 1C
「Pitiful Movement Speed」(F, Lv.1), 1C
「Faint Mana Sensitivity」(F, Lv.1), 1C
Current Coins: 9]
'What? A dream?'
Even so, he had to rub his eyes at the five F-rank items filling the list.
If his memory served, F-rank probability at level 4 shop was just 20%.
The odds of all five slots being F-ranks? A mere 0.032%.
Pure probability-wise, it was 30 times less likely than luckily pulling an S-rank in one slot.
"Well... yeah, it happens."
A creeping feeling that he shouldn't spend any more coins tried to worm its way in, but Jeong-hyeon refreshed once more anyway.
People always say the same thing in situations like this.
The gambler's fallacy.
A miraculous five F-ranks had happened, so surely good stuff was coming next?
But the price of such baseless faith was always the same.
[Shop List (Refresh Cost: 2 Coins)
「Wall-Climbing That Could Scale City Walls」(D, Lv.1), 3C
「Decent Movement Speed」(E, Lv.1), 2C
「Healing That Stops Bleeding」(F, Lv.1), 1C
「Equippable Slot Expansion Ticket」(E), 2C
「Pretty Quick Movement Speed」(D, Lv.1), 3C
Current Coins: 7]
"This is insane..."
Not all F-ranks this time, but still utterly useless.
He'd expected this level when spinning, so it wasn't disappointing per se. But after the five F-ranks? Infuriating.
And what was with this outdated E-rank expansion ticket?
Expansion tickets had never let him down before, which made the betrayal sting even more.
"Argh, refresh!"
In the end, Jeong-hyeon averted his eyes in disgust and refreshed again.
Still 7 coins left, so he could snag a decent C-rank at least.
Of course, after two total duds, expectations were low.
When Jeong-hyeon checked the new list with an irritated glare,
"Huh?"
One decent one caught his eye.
[Clear Magic Imbuement (C, Lv.1), 4C]
Magic imbuement trait.
'C-rank magic imbuement, huh...'
Racking his brain, he recalled Su-yeon from Jeongjin Guild—who'd supported him in the Spirit Forest—had something similar.
With "clear" as the descriptor, a C-rank magic imbuement meant high success rates on weapons and solid standalone firepower, letting her punch above her weight in higher-level gate parties compared to other traits.
Not a bad opportunity for Jeong-hyeon, who was thinking of shifting toward magic traits anyway.
[You have purchased 「Clear Magic Imbuement」(C, Lv.1).]
'Might as well buy it.'
Plenty of coins left—no reason to hesitate.
Now the question: equip the magic imbuement right away, or shelve it for now?
Truth was, no need to ditch anything for magic imbuement just yet.
Six of his seven traits were already synergized, and dropping mana sensitivity for this would be putting the cart before the horse.
Magic imbuement stood out more anyway, and he'd benefited plenty from mana sensitivity so far.
'Can't make shields or barriers with imbuement.'
Especially in the King's Playground—without mana sensitivity, he'd have died twice over.
Lost in thought, one trait caught Jeong-hyeon's eye.
"Stealth—really necessary?"
「Stealth that Fools Goblin Eyes」.
Honestly, for current Jeong-hyeon, stealth was nice-to-have at best.
It synergized with throwing skill, sure, but with throwing now C-rank, dropping the synergy wouldn't hit too hard.
If anything, he'd feel the rank-up benefits more.
Plus, stealth never stuck well anyway.
Hadn't appeared even once despite burning over 50 coins this time.
"Yeah, this is fate."
So Jeong-hyeon boldly decided to swap stealth for magic imbuement.
It was just a synergy mule now, lagging behind other traits in rank anyway.
Lower utility meant slower level-ups too.
And magic imbuement plus mana sensitivity?
Obvious synergy hiding there.
[Swap 「Stealth that Fools Goblin Eyes」(E) with 「Clear Magic Imbuement」(C)?]
No question.
Jeong-hyeon nodded, and the traits switched places.
From here on, the time for Jeong-hyeon to flip out in adaptation agony would begin.
"Heh heh heh... Knew this was coming, so I prepared everything."
But oddly, Jeong-hyeon grinned sinisterly.
Had the agony finally driven him to awaken new eyes?
Jeong-hyeon chuckled as he pulled items from his bedside drawer.
A new mouthpiece, thick ski gloves, and a small pill bottle.
Mouthpiece for protecting his teeth, obviously. Ski gloves to keep him from shredding his blanket or mattress unconsciously.
As the saying goes—even a dog in a schoolyard recites poetry after three years. Jeong-hyeon had his own tricks for enduring adaptation now.
But his secret weapon this time? The pill bottle.
"Who knew the world had progressed to adaptation painkillers?"
Special painkillers for adaptation agony, targeted at those who'd undergone mana injection procedures.
Originally for hunters enduring unimaginable pain from deadly gate hunts, but adaptation's notoriety made it a prime product.
Proof of mana injection and a doctor's prescription required.
Of course, anti-abuse measures limited purchases to tiny amounts.
Jeong-hyeon, two years post-injection and already active as a hunter, had trouble convincing a doctor—but managed somehow.
Anyway, he popped a painkiller, donned the mouthpiece and gloves, and lay comfortably on the bed.
With the painkiller, this should be fine—
'It's coming.'
It started at his fingertips.
Overall, not much different from equipping mana sensitivity.
Same magic trait family.
But if past agonies were like sharp awls, this felt like a small stick prodding.
Pain wasn't minor, but blunted enough for solid effect.
'This is totally bearable—huh?'
Jeong-hyeon, smugly victorious over adaptation for once, suddenly tilted his head.
Pain should've peaked and plateaued by now, but this one kept climbing.
Started as a stick, now like rebar.
And it wasn't knock-out intense—just enough to keep him painfully awake.
Time passed: rebar to baseball bat, to steel pipe...
'You crazy adaptation pain!'
Jeong-hyeon endured it fully, unable to pass out.
Had he been arrogant relying on just painkillers?
Never lasted this long before—impossible to gauge how much worse it'd get.
He'd been suckered by "adaptation specialist painkiller" without reading the tiny warning below.
- Effects and efficacy tested on D-rank or lower traits. Not recommended for C-rank traits. Especially magic traits: guaranteed only up to E-rank.
Oblivious, Jeong-hyeon ground his teeth till the mouthpiece tore.
'I survive this, I'll smash that pharma company...'
Meanwhile, pain swelled across his body.
Jeong-hyeon didn't realize: his superhuman senses from agility synergies were amplifying the agony.
In the end—unlike fainting in 5 minutes before—his ace painkiller dragged it out to 3 hours before he finally blacked out.